Australian upbringing still guides Harrison Endycott during first year on PGA TOUR

Harrison Endycott estimates that the two most-used apps on his smart phone are his mobile-bank platform and Yelp, which is famous for its treasure trove of crowd-sourced reviews.

The 26-year-old Australian uses those Yelp reviews to find small businesses he wants to frequent in the cities where he plays golf, this year as a rookie on the PGA TOUR.

A coffee shop like Big Wave Dave that he found last week in Waikiki Beach is a must for this connoisseur of the roasted bean, who favors a cortado for its deep, rich flavor as well as a flat white or a latte. A self-described foodie, Endycott also wants to avoid the myriad of chain restaurants and find the hidden gems with inventive chefs and adventurous cuisine.

“I love good food,” Endycott says. “I love all that type of stuff. So, it's like, for me, when I'm on TOUR, I really enjoy finding – especially at the start of the week – and going to the same coffee shop every day and getting to know people there.

“I want to support a family of four that is running a sandwich shop or something like that. That's just me. I would rather give them business than go to like a Red Lobster or something like that. I'd rather just try to find somewhere where everyone knows each other and things like that because that that's what I grew up with.”

Endycott, who is playing this week in The American Express, a tournament that shares his interest in supporting small businesses, was part of one of those families growing up in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby. His parents, Brian and Dianne, ran a thriving coffee shop called Thyme Square Café, the name being a play on words, as well as homage to the landmark clock that stood opposite the business in the town’s promenade.

Dianne was working for an airline while Brian was in the clothing business when the two met. Neither was particularly happy in their jobs, so the couple decided to take a leap of faith and opened the café. Dianne was the chef while Brian was the barista and host extraordinaire. The business flourished under their care at two different sites until Dianne died of ovarian cancer when Harrison was 15. Brian sold the shop, retired and became a single dad.

“She did all the hard work, and I just did all the talking up the front with the coffees,” Brian recalls with a laugh during a phone call from his home in Empire Bay, Australia. “So, it was a good combination, put it that way. We had a good reputation there. We used to win a lot of awards for our business.”

The coffee culture in Australia is different than in the United States where Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts rule. Most coffee shops are independently owned and feature, as Harrison put it, “proper” breakfasts and lunches like eggs benedict or hamburgers to sit down and eat, not donuts and muffins and scones to grab and go. He was struck by the dichotomy last week to see the line out the door at the Starbucks across the street from Big Wave Dave where just a handful were queued up.

“I’m not knocking that brand,” Endycott says. “But being someone growing up around small businesses, like we don't have a whole lot of big franchises like that in Australia. So, everyone supports local businesses and, like, I'm the same here. Like I have my coffee spot in Scottsdale (where he lives), like each tournament I've got my cafes that I go to and stuff like that.”

From the time he was 6 until he was a teenager and old enough to enter the junior developmental program at nearby Avondale Country Club, Harrison spent his afternoons at Thyme Square working on homework or coloring in his dinosaur book until the café closed around 5:30 p.m. Sometimes Brian put him to work picking up empty coffee cups and plates or getting the umbrellas and tables set up outside.

“He used to get a lot of tips and the waitresses weren't too happy about that,” Brian recalls with a laugh. “He grew up in the coffee shop and he was great. He was an asset because he was never shy.”

When he was older, Harrison would help his dad open the shop at 5 a.m., a time designed to accommodate the tradesmen like electricians and plumbers who started their jobs earlier than office workers. Thyme Square got the jump on the other cafes that way and “Dad was killing it,” Harrison recalls. Weekends were reserved for sports like cricket and soccer and his favorite, golf, when he and Brian, who could shoot in the upper 70s, teed it up.

Many of the customers knew Harrison was a golfer – he’d change into his polo shirt in the shop’s bathroom before grabbing his clubs – and sometimes they’d ask him for tips. One of those regulars even helped him make the inroads at Avondale, one of Sydney’s more influential clubs, where he met Mark and Ben Paterson, a father-son team of PGA professionals who have helped guide Harrison’s career and become extended family in the process.

A win at last year’s Huntsville Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour helped send Endycott to the PGA TOUR. He ranks 132nd in the FedExCup and he’s already pocketed more than $300,000 thanks in large part to a pair of top-12 finishes last fall.

Endycott says he’d go “nuts” working in an office from 9-to-5 so he’s thankful to be living out his dream playing golf on the PGA TOUR. But had he not developed into a professional golfer, Endycott could see himself running a small business like his dad.

“I think if he did do that, I think he'd be very successful in doing it,” Brian says. “He knew how hard his mum and I worked to get to where we were. And he understands hard work.”

On and off the golf course, to be sure.